Tributes flood in for Captain Beefheart

Following the death of Captain Beefheart, regarded as one of the most visionary and and inventive music artists of the past 50 years, tributes have been flooding in from fellow musicians. Don Van Vliet, or Beefheart as he was better known, retired from music in 1982, due to the onset of multiple sclerosis and was rarely seen in public thereafter. His death last week was due to complications brought on by the illness.

Among the most vocal in their praise of Beefheart was Tom Waits. "He drew in the air with a burnt stick," Waits said. "He described the indescribable." Tom Waits told the LA Times that Van Vliet was "an underground stream and a big yellow blimp". "He was like the scout on a wagon train. He was the one who goes ahead and shows the way. He was a demanding bandleader, a transcendental composer (with emphasis on the dental), up there with Ornette [Coleman], Sun Ra and Miles [Davis] ... I will miss talking to him on the phone. We would describe what we saw out of our windows. He was a rememberer. He was the only one who thought to bring matches. He's the alpha and the omega. The high water mark. He's gone and he won't be back."

Younger acts were also quick to come out in praise of Beefheart. The Zutons' Dave McCabe commented, "He will be missed by all fans across the globe," while Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand said Beefheart's work was "very much" an influence.

Many tributes came from Twitter - Billy Bragg posted "There was only ever one Captain Beefheart."

Writing for the Wall Street Journal, former member of the Magic Band Gary Lucas fondly recalled his old friend's genius. "Don Van Vliet was an American maverick visionary genius who single-handedly changed the face of music," he wrote. "I never met anyone remotely like him."